Thread: Can you pros help a novice homeowner out?

Would really appreciate it if you knowledgeable pros would help me out with my lawn renovation plan?

Background: I have a newly bought house that has had a lawn that was neglected for a long time. Last year we bought the house mid summer and I picked up there with fertilizing and detatched it in the early fall and did an overseeing. It did okay but it is still very thin and patchy and we had an epic battle with crabgrass earlier in the summer seeing hows we weren't here to treat it with preemergents. This year I hope to get an early start on it and improve it dramatically.

Work done so far this spring:

I did the usual spring cleanup and racked the entire yard very well. I took a soil sample in to my local nursery and they said it looked good. No particular issues that needed to be adressed but that I could add some gypsum to the ground due to the top of the lawn plug sample being quite compacted.

I then purchased some high quality grass seed after reading the reccomendations on this site. I have an area of full sun, an area of mixed sun and shade, and an area of full shade (once all the leaves come in). I purchased the greenview seeds for these given conditions (three different types of seeds. I have also purchased greenviews seed accelerator and seeding mulch product as I had good luck using this last year and would rather not use straw.

My plan moving forward: (I have gathered this plan by reviewing many of the posts made by you on this board as well as talking to my local nursery)

1. First I planned to aerate my lawn next weekend (It is now april 19th and has been in the 50-60's for about 1 week now).

2. I planned to spread a portion of the seed I have at that point with a broadcast spreader. (I have calculated out the square footage of each yard and looked at the reccomendations for overseeding on the seed packages. I was thinking of using 1/3 of this amount after the aeration using the broadcast spreader and save the other 2/3 to use in the following step when I slot seed the yard.)

3. I also plan to apply greenview's seed accelerator plus crabgrass preventer at that time.

4. I will then begin watering at this point in time

5. After one or two weeks of letting the plugs from the aerating dry a bit I planned to slot seed the entire lawn using the remainder of the seed.

6. After this slit seeding I will apply the greenview seed accelerator and seeding mulch product to help hold in the moisture. (The seed accelerator portion is very minimal so I didnt think this would be overkill on the fertilizer when used in combo with the previous seed accelerator plus crabgrass preemergent)

How does this plan look and where is it weak in any areas? Any advice or alternative plans would be greatly appreciated. I have access to the aerator and slot seeder free of cost so if someone would recommend one over the other simply from a cost standpoint that would not be an issue.

I also have access to as much compost as I would like if it would be beneficial to also cover the newly overseeded areas with this as well.

You aren't being ignored, i just haven't seen the guy from MI on here this weekend, give it a few day's.

So what kind (rye, fescue, KBG) of grass are you using? How many Lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. are you going to put down? Can you post any picture's of your property? How can you stand to live in that frozen wasteland?

You aren't being ignored, i just haven't seen the guy from MI on here this weekend, give it a few day's.

So what kind (rye, fescue, KBG) of grass are you using? How many Lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. are you going to put down? Can you post any picture's of your property? How can you stand to live in that frozen wasteland?

The seed I have is reccomended for overseeding at 3lbs/2000 square feet. Seems like this is long compared of reccomendations I have seen on various threads here.

The seed I have is actually a mix of kbg, rye, and fescue that is sold by greenview.Posted via Mobile Device

That sound's like a misprint. Overseeding at 3 Lbs. per K is just right.

You do know that if you seed in the fall (that would be Aug 15 for your area) your chance of success probably go's up 75%? This isn't just my opinion, it's a fact all across the US. Don't be fooled by the spring fever you see going on around you.

Why are you aerating? Unless you have a really bad compaction problem, you don't need to do that until fall.(the best time) If you do that now you will hurt the grass that's already growing. The soil just isn't warm enough to handle that kind of cultivation.

I'm glad your thinking a lot about this and making a plan. A nice yard doesn't just happen overnight. Good luck.

Consider having a soil test done of the entire lawn area. If the soil Ph is not correct for what your attempting to accomplish you will be throwing good money after really bad results. All the best.
easy-lift guy

That sound's like a misprint. Overseeding at 3 Lbs. per K is just right.

You do know that if you seed in the fall (that would be Aug 15 for your area) your chance of success probably go's up 75%? This isn't just my opinion, it's a fact all across the US. Don't be fooled by the spring fever you see going on around you.

Why are you aerating? Unless you have a really bad compaction problem, you don't need to do that until fall.(the best time) If you do that now you will hurt the grass that's already growing. The soil just isn't warm enough to handle that kind of cultivation.

I'm glad your thinking a lot about this and making a plan. A nice yard doesn't just happen overnight. Good luck.

The lawn is very compacted and I have no idea when the last time it was aerated was. I will take some pictures of the lawn tonight to show you the patchy areas and how thin it is. I plan to also renovate in the fall as I know this is the better time to do so but thought I would also attempt to make some improvement now. Do you think not earating and just slit seeding is a better approach? I had planned to do both as that is what I have seen reccomended the most on these forums.

And to answer your questions about why I live in this frozen wasteland, I ask myself that question every day, especially this past winter.

Consider having a soil test done of the entire lawn area. If the soil Ph is not correct for what your attempting to accomplish you will be throwing good money after really bad results. All the best.
easy-lift guy

I actually plan to do that this week, thank you. I did take several samples to my local nursery and they did some sort of quick soil test and came back within minutes telling me the lawn was "fine" and that I could put down some gypsum to loosen the dirt (I had told them it seemed very compacted). I now understand what they pry did was simply a quick PH test of the soil. I have located a local MSU-extension office that will do a comprehensive soil test for 25 dollars. This takes 3 weeks but I will do this anyways. Thank you for your input.

I actually plan to do that this week, thank you. I did take several samples to my local nursery and they did some sort of quick soil test and came back within minutes telling me the lawn was "fine" and that I could put down some gypsum to loosen the dirt (I had told them it seemed very compacted). I now understand what they pry did was simply a quick PH test of the soil. I have located a local MSU-extension office that will do a comprehensive soil test for 25 dollars. This takes 3 weeks but I will do this anyways. Thank you for your input.

You are wise to make the investment and get a proper soil test done the first time. All the best.
easy-lift guy